On June 14, 2017, the second and final part of the major inquiry into the Grenfell Tower fire said that all 72 deaths could have been avoided.
“The simple truth is that the deaths that have occurred were all avoidable, and those who lived in the tower were failed miserably over many years and failed in various ways by those responsible for ensuring the safety of the building. occupiers,” inquiry chair Martin Moore-Beek said Wednesday as he presented the nearly 1,700-page report.
The damning report said the failure of government, regulators and the construction industry had turned the building into a “death trap”.
The fire, which started in a small fridge on the fourth floor, turned into a firestorm that engulfed a large part of the 24-story building within about half an hour.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer apologized on behalf of the state in comments to Parliament hours after publication.
“I would like to begin by apologizing on behalf of the British state to each of you and, indeed, to all the families affected by this tragedy,” he said. “It should never happen. The country failed in its most basic duty: to protect you and your loved ones, we are here to serve, and I am deeply sorry. He also promised to bring justice to the victims.
Use of cladding in sharp focus
The fire spread quickly due to flammable “cladding” panels on the exterior of the building.
“We conclude that the fire at Grenfell Tower was the culmination of decades of failure by central government and other bodies to take responsibility for and act on the risk of incorporating combustible materials into the external walls of high-rise residential buildings. information available to them,” the inquiry said.
“Not all of them bear equal responsibility for the ultimate tragedy, but as our reports show, all have contributed to it in one way or another, in most cases, through incompetence, but in some cases, through dishonesty and greed,” Moore-Bick said.
The case drew sharp attention to wealth inequality in London. Grenfell Tower was a social housing block in one of the wealthiest areas of West London. Cladding was used primarily during renovations to improve its exterior aesthetics at a cut cost.
“How was it possible to turn a reinforced concrete building, itself structurally impervious to fire, into a death trap in 21st century London?” the report asked. “There is no easy answer to that question.”
The report was highly critical of companies supplying the cladding, saying they engaged in “systematic dishonesty”, manipulating safety tests and misrepresenting results to claim the material was safe, despite allegations it was not.
Fire brigade ‘satisfied’ about cladding risks and response limitations
The fires were the worst in the UK since World War II.
The London Fire Brigade (LFB) also comes in for heavy criticism in the report, with officers described as “satisfied”.
It had failed to ensure that the risk posed by the use of cladding was “shared with the wider organization and reflected in training,” it said, and had failed to learn lessons from an earlier 2009 fire in London “which should have alerted the LFB. Fires in high-rise buildings for deficiencies in its ability to fight back.
Residents who called emergency services were told to stay in their flats to await rescue. This “stay-put” advice was standard issue at the time but has since changed because of how it led to people who may have been trapped in their homes.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer promised to learn from the failures highlighted.
“The government will consider the report and its recommendations carefully, to ensure that such a tragedy does not happen again,” Starmer said in a written statement to parliament after the report’s release on Wednesday.
The previous government had announced plans to accelerate the removal of cladding in other buildings in 2022 and required developers to contribute more to the cost.
msh/nm (AFP, Reuters)
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